plus, a tougher deal for women at work. the uk slips down the rankings for gender equality — we'll be finding out why. hello and welcome to the top business stories here on the bbc. i'm sally bundock. we start with bitcoin because the world's largest cryptocurrency has been soaring. it has more than doubled over the past four months — it's up 50% in the past month alone and on wednesday it touched almost $64,000, just a few dollars short of its all—time record set during the height of the pandemic. investor appetite for crypto took a hammering in 2022 with the collapse of exchange ftx and the conviction of founder sam bankman—fried and then the federal prosecution last year of changpeng zhao, the man behind rival exchange binance.

so what is driving this revival in bitcoin? erin delmore reports. it's been more than two years since we have seen bitcoin cross the $60,000 mark, but the cryptocurrency did just that on wednesday, even soaring to $64,000. it may be closing in on its all—time high of $68,000. there are a few reasons why crypto enthusiasts are fired up about bitcoin these days, newly approved spot bitcoin exchange traded funds have investors buzzing and there is a change coming up in april when bitcoin miners start getting less bitcoin for their efforts and the spectre of lesser supply fuels more demand. 0ne lesser supply fuels more demand. one more thing than any background here, the federal reserve is expected to cut interest rates this year, that

stokes investors because interest in alternative investments like cryptocurrencies. but it's not all smooth sailing, some uses of queen based global, the largest trip to exchange in the us unexpectedly saw their balances drop down to zero among the bitcoin buzz on wednesday. the exchange said it was aware and investigating and that customer assets are safe because of his part, the exchange's ceo, brian armstrong, president social media that the site was dealing with a large surge of traffic. erin delmore. chris beauchamp is chief market analyst at ig. hello to you, chris. what do you make of this resurgence of bitcoin? in you make of this resurgence of bitcoin? ., , . ., bitcoin? in one sentence, not surprising. — bitcoin? in one sentence, not surprising, the _ bitcoin? in one sentence, not surprising, the return - bitcoin? in one sentence, not surprising, the return of- bitcoin? in one sentence, not| surprising, the return of these all—time highs driven by this etf, the flows into bitcoin have increased exponentially. that's the thing with bitcoin, unlike a lot of other assets it

is driven by supply and demand, in this case a man, people buying it. they think that is set to continue for a while. why do people invest in bitcoin, is it purely speculative play? i bitcoin, is it purely speculative play? i think is also the — speculative play? i think is also the fact _ speculative play? i think is also the fact that - speculative play? i think is also the fact that it - speculative play? i think is also the fact that it is - speculative play? i think is l also the fact that it is viewed as being as something a replacement for the dollar, for global currencies, over the last ten years you see the huge interest rates after the crisis of 2008, people looking for other investments, maybe global currencies aren't delivering, investors and bib queen is solid, that has driven a lot of enthusiasm for the asset. i5 enthusiasm for the asset. is that still live you on cryptocurrency, that eventually it could replace old—fashioned traditional currency such as the us dollar? because in terms of its use, you know, people are using bitcoin as an investment mainly, they're not using it to buy and sell, or

are they? i using it to buy and sell, or are they?— using it to buy and sell, or are the ? . ., , ., ., , are they? i mean, a small group are. are they? i mean, a small group are- think— are they? i mean, a small group are. think about _ are they? i mean, a small group are. think about five _ are they? i mean, a small group are. think about five years - are they? i mean, a small group are. think about five years ago | are. think about five years ago there was the expectation would replace the dollar, but it hasn't happened. it is more of an investment. a thing ccc as the future, they are not buying because it is likely there now, it is because they collected a much higher than 68,000. we shau much higher than 68,000. we shall keep _ much higher than 68,000. we shall keep an eye. chris beauchamp there from ig. let's go to india now, because we are expecting updated economic figures for the last three months of 2023. they could show a slight slowdown in growth, but they're likely to confirm india as the world's fastest—growing major economy for the third year in a row. according to some projections, by 2027 india will overtake both germany and japan to become the number three economy in the world. archana shukla reports from mumbai. after an impressive first half

of the year, economic growth is expected to slow down in the october— expected to slow down in the 0ctober— december quarter and what's taking it down is one slow growth in industries, the patterns that have affected agricultural production, and reduce consumption both the festive season. luxury high—end good have driven growth, but data from aviation traffic and sales of tractors, to willis, and cars, have shown consumption demand moderate in both rural and urban quarters. private sector investments are still not flowing into the economy and the government's spending, which has been a major driver of growth in previous quarters, slowing as the country moves towards national elections. despite that, india will hold onto its ranking as the fastest—growing major economy in the world for a third year, a premise on which prime minister narendra modi is seeking a record the term in office this year. india has become an attractive market and an alternative to china for

global investors. brokerages expect the base —— pace of growth to continue, with the gdp expected to surpass that of japan and germany in 2027. the country is expected to grow at 7% levels, which is resilient in the face of fluctuating inflation. this even gives the central bank more room to hold onto high interest rates to tame price rises. archana shukla there. let's stay with india, because the boss of air india has been telling the bbc about his high hopes for the re—vamped national airline. the tata group took over air india from the government two years ago. since then it has poured millions of dollars into turning around the carrier, which was struggling with a fleet of old planes, outdated systems and huge debts. suranjana tewari has been talking to its chief executive, campbell wilson. if you look at the size of the opportunity in india it is already well�*s most pillars country, it is going from an

air travel perspective at 10% compound annual growth rate mystically and 7% internationally, it has the geographic advantage the same as the middle east and others in connecting regions of the world together and it is a hugely underserved market from an indian carrier's perspective. india only had at the point of divestment 43 wide—body aircraft in commercial service, whereas much, much smaller countries have multiples of that. so the connectivity opportunity from india to the rest of the world to serve notjust the 37 million people in the diaspora but the business opportunities in india becoming more important part of the global supply chain as well as an international connecting hub are there, as i think this investment needs to be seen in context of the broader opportunity. context of the broader opportunity-— context of the broader opportunity. context of the broader ouortuni. ., . . opportunity. your arrival -- our opportunity. your arrival -- your rivals _ opportunity. your arrival -- your rivals indigo _ opportunity. your arrival -- your rivals indigo and - opportunity. your arrival -- your rivals indigo and the i opportunity. your arrival -- i your rivals indigo and the goal carries a very established and carry most of the indian traffic, how do you propose to catch up with them and to

compete? in catch up with them and to compete?— compete? in the case of domestic— compete? in the case of domestic market, - compete? in the case of domestic market, there | compete? in the case of. domestic market, there is consolidation happening. the data group are in the midst of being consolidated into one full—service and low—cost airline —— tata group. domestic market will be served by a low—cost airline which is in the process of travelling inside. the international market is going to be driven by obviously more aircraft, but improving the product proposition on board, improving distribution service, sales, reliability, connecting cities around the world non—stop with india and we think if we do that we appeal to a new travelling market and, of course, we can then bring people back to fly non—stop to india rather than suffer a four or five hour transit connection somewhere in between where they are starting from and where they are going. are starting from and where they are going-— they are going. you have ordered _ they are going. you have ordered 220 _ they are going. you have ordered 220 new - they are going. you have ordered 220 new boeing | they are going. you have - ordered 220 new boeing max jets, given everything that has been going on with boeing are you concerned at all given the size of your order?—

size of your order? airline safety is _ size of your order? airline safety is a _ size of your order? airline safety is a long, _ size of your order? airline | safety is a long, hard-won safety is a long, hard—won battle, design, manufacture, training, so anything that calls into question the robustness of that whole ecosystem is clearly of concern to us. of course, we are raising it at the highest levels with boeing and every other manufacturer because our expectations are that we operate the most safe airline that we possibly can. you say ou are that we possibly can. you say you are raising _ that we possibly can. you say you are raising those - you are raising those concerns, have they given you any extra assurances?— have they given you any extra assurances? they clearly keep us informed _ assurances? they clearly keep us informed with _ assurances? they clearly keep us informed with what - assurances? they clearly keep us informed with what they're | us informed with what they're doing, the actions they're taking, the seriousness with which they are approaching the issue and beyond that is really not appropriate for me to talk. interesting there, the ceo of air india saying he is raising concerns at the top level at boeing about safety, something that michael 0'leary was saying, chief executive of ryanair, last week. a lot of pressure on boeing right now. let's move to neighbouring pakistan because the newly elected parliament holds

its first session today. former prime minister nawaz sharif said on wednesday the priority of the upcoming government will be to fix the economy. inflation was running at almost 30% in january and pakistan is relying on securing new financial help from the international monetary fund as the current loan deal expires in april. arsla jawaid is associate director at the risk consultants control risks, she covers afghanistan and pakistan. let's unpack this. a very warm welcome to the programme. so, this new government is holding its first session today, highly controversial, its election. talk us through it, there is just so much at stake here, isn't there?— isn't there? they're really, really is- — isn't there? they're really, really is- a _ isn't there? they're really, really is. a lot _ isn't there? they're really, really is. a lot of _ isn't there? they're really, j really is. a lot of questions around pakistan's economic stability can't be discussed without pakistan's political stability. unlike you mention,

lawmakers are taking over in just about another half hour from now. and pakistan's election, there are questions around its credibility, there are also questions around pakistan's incoming government and whether it is a legitimate government to actually assume a power and that really does translate into economic stabilisation. the priority for the government is to negotiate this imf deal, like you said in your introduction, 29% inflation, roughly $30 billion inflation, roughly $30 billion in pakistan's annual external debt obligations. there is a mass exodus of skilled and technical labour that is leaving the country and pakistan is really going to have to navigate space very carefully. there is a lot of focus on the imf, there has been a lot of talk in the lead up been a lot of talk in the lead up to elections, on election day, but very little conversation about what happens the day after. for the

government, this is going to be very, very difficult. you do have a coalition government thatis have a coalition government that is in place, it is a fragile coalition, one of the key coalition partners, the pakistan people's party, has actually opted to sit outside the federal government, that is indicative of the fact that the party is going to likely at as a hurdle against very difficult and unpopular decisions the government will have to make. the imf deal is only one part of the approach that the government can use to sell pakistan's economic crisis. it is not a magic pill, this is something we have been saying from essentially the beginning. the imf deal, if it is able to be negotiated, if it's —— if it's easily as it is a bigger challenge for pakistan that is facing the spectre of default. in imf deal is going to be a priority. , it is imperative to negotiate one. there is a

standby agreement that expires in april. pakistan will have to negotiate a longer term deal, this will be in the form of the extended fun facility programme, again, pakistan is no stranger to a programme of this tie —— kind. it's saw a lot of holes in the programme... lot of holes in the rouramme... ,,,, �* programme... crosstalk. yeah, programme... crosstalk. yeah. yeah. _ programme... crosstalk. yeah, yeah, yeah, - programme... crosstalk. yeah, yeah, yeah, you - programme... crosstalk. | yeah, yeah, yeah, you have outlined the challenges, huge, huge challenges, the priority is clinching the steel with the international monetary fund in april. the people of pakistan, though, they are tired and weary, aren't they? and the political instability is kind of at a high point right now following an election that many feel was not free and fair, did not represent the real outcome in terms of who is now running pakistan. so going forward what are your hopes?—

are your hopes? well, the --eole are your hopes? well, the people are _ are your hopes? well, the people are pakistan - are your hopes? well, the | people are pakistan should are your hopes? well, the - people are pakistan should be wary and they should be cautiously optimistic. the economic indicators aren't very good, but, like as before, there are very unpopular decisions the government will have to take. there will be an increase in fuel and petrol prices, there will have to be a removal of tariffs, this is going to affect the people of pakistan and, lacazette, the government only has a certain number of cards in his pocket, the imf is one side of the deal, pakistan will also have to look at is bilateral partners, it will have to look at saudi arabia, the uae, china and that becomes very difficult for the people of pakistan to really absorb these very, very challenging economic policies that will be put in place. all that will be put in place. all riuht. that will be put in place. all right. arsla jawaid, thank you for our learning what's ahead for our learning what's ahead for pakistan. we appreciate your expertise on that. let's get some of the day's other news now.

disney is joinng forces with asia's richest man to create a new media giant in india. it has announced plans to merge its star india service with viacomi8, which is backed by billionaire mukesh ambani's reliance industries, in a deal worth $8.5 billion. the combined firm would boast more than 120 channels, serving some 750 million customers across the country — but the deal will need approval by regulators. us regulators have given boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to deal with "systemic quality—control issues" after a door panel blew off a 737jet in mid—air last month, sparking renewed safety concerns. following an all—day meeting with the federal aviation administration, boeing ceo dave calhoun said the firm is totally committed to addressing its concerns. us burger chain wendy's has denied it is exploring plans to raise prices on customers at busy moments, claiming its plans were "misconstrued". the firm had told investors

this month that it was rolling out digital menu displays at its restaurants and expected to start testing features "like dynamic pricing" early next year. the plans quickly caused a backlash. coming up: small car, big plans. france's best selling model of the 19705 and 80s — the renault 5 — makes an electric return. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. voiceover: bbc news - bringing you different stories from across the uk. 0ne up here. has been running the uniform boutique in washington of the past three years, a shop where you can buy secondhand school where in return for a small donation. i5 return for a small donation. is that 20p? that's _ return for a small donation. is that 20p? that's fine, - return for a small donation. is that 20p? that's fine, thank l that 20p? that's fine, thank ou that 20p? that's fine, thank you very _ that 20p? that's fine, thank you very much. _ that 20p? that's fine, thank you very much. but - that 20p? that's fine, thank you very much. but he - that 20p? that's fine, thank you very much. but he has l you very much. but he has determined _ you very much. but he has determined that _ you very much. but he has determined that not - you very much. but he has determined that not only | you very much. but he has i determined that not only will

kids in the area have access to a uniform, but they will also look the part for the school prom. look the part for the school rom. ~ ., ., . ., prom. we have noticed that with the cost-of-living _ prom. we have noticed that with the cost-of-living crisis - the cost—of—living crisis and things like that, people were not getting to prom, so we decided we were going to give it a go and it's been absolutely brilliant, it's absolutely brilliant, it's absolutely fantastic the variety that we have. we should have a dress for everybody, there are that many different styles i'm hoping that we can help a massive amount of it's good to prom the season stop there will now be a number of open days were kids and their parents to come down and hopefully choose the outfit of their dreams. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. to geneva now, it is hosting its annual motor show for the first time since the pandemic. stealing the show so far, the return of a french motoring icon from the 19705 and �*80s, the renault 5 which has been re—launched as an electric car. these days small cars

are becoming increasingly rare as manufacturers shift to more profitable suvs. so why is renault taking a different road? a question theo leggett put to its chief executive luca de meo. it is the history of our company, we have always been a popular brand, so always trying to do things that people could afford, in the electric space the cars are structurally more expensive because of costs. they think when you start putting in a smaller battery we can really reduce the price, so renault 5 will start again at £25,000, which is, you know, starts to become something a lot of people can afford. that is our mission to do the thing right, so try to follow the ones that are only bringing big, big batteries on cars, even from an ecological point of view it doesn't make a lot of view it doesn't make a lot of sense. in of view it doesn't make a lot of sense-— of view it doesn't make a lot of sense. in terms of electric cars,

of sense. in terms of electric cars. renault _ of sense. in terms of electric cars, renault was _ of sense. in terms of electric cars, renault was one - of sense. in terms of electric cars, renault was one of - of sense. in terms of electric i cars, renault was one of your's leaders, you are among the first out there, but now the market is being led by tesla in the united states, by income is from china like guede, do you think europe is being left behind? ~ ~' ., , behind? we know the chinese have some — behind? we know the chinese have some form _ behind? we know the chinese have some form of _ behind? we know the chinese have some form of advantage| behind? we know the chinese l have some form of advantage in the control of the ev value chain starting with mining, finding the materials, capacity, etc. think there is no reason why we should not be to do the same, but we will probably need to do des have a little bit more time because we started later. that is the kind of battle we are fighting. you have said _ of battle we are fighting. you have said in _ of battle we are fighting. you have said in the _ of battle we are fighting. you have said in the past - of battle we are fighting. you have said in the past that china is ten years ahead in battery technology, how do you catch up big gap like that? aha, catch up big gap like that? way of doing this is to co—operate with them, i think we have to leverage what they have done and they have done an incrediblejob. this is incredible job. this is actually incrediblejob. this is actually the case with what's happening, many, for example, chinese battery companies are building factories in europe,

there is a form of operation we need to find. across europe, think one of the issues we have is probably, you know, we should have the governments and european community to have strategies. right now they are battling out regulation one on top of the other, getting our deadlines, and fines and threatening us with fines, but at the end of the day we need the strategy exactly as the chinese started to do maybe 10-15 chinese started to do maybe 10—15 years ago. i think we have a couple of opportunities to co—operate with other 0ems, especially in the space of the small car, as you said at the beginning of the interview, they are very difficult to make profitable. so you need to actually share investment, share production capacity, share production capacity, share r&d costs to get to the market that people can buy, affordable, but also profitable. if they are not profitable. if they are not profitable that will be a

strategy with very, very short legs. strategy with very, very short le . s. , ., strategy with very, very short lens. , . ~ ., ., strategy with very, very short lens. , ., ., ,, ., legs. the geneva motor show will be opening _ legs. the geneva motor show will be opening its _ legs. the geneva motor show will be opening its doors - legs. the geneva motor show will be opening its doors in i legs. the geneva motor show will be opening its doors in a| will be opening its doors in a few hours. let's bring you some breaking news. volkswagen and chinese ev firm xpeng are saying the first car that they plan to develop together, which will be an suv, to which they will be an suv, to which they willjointly source parts, the announcement marks a step forward in a partnership made injuly when volkswagen said it would buyjust under 5% of xpeng for around $700 million with close to jointly launch two ev models by 2026. the purchase was completed in december, volkswagen is trying to regain market share in china lost to local rivals, that is interesting. lots of news coming out in the next few days from the geneva motor show. finally to gender equality in the workplace because the uk has slipped down the rankings of developed economies in an annual women in work index, compiled by the consultants pwc. among the key concerns, a rise in the gender pay gap here in the uk and a lack of

progressive childcare policies. alia qamar is senior economist at pwc. good morning to you. this is disappointing. you are on mute, can you click on the mute button for me? something i'd do all the time. why do this all the time, it's really embarrassing. we can hear you now. just tell us about this result, we are slipping down the scale when it comes to gender equality, why is that? why is the uk losing ground. 0k, great. good morning. the ranking is never inaudible. i think we have technical problems with alia, which is a shame. hopefully we can link up with her a little later. let's

look at financial markets. the run we have seen on asian markets, as you can see for japan, it is pretty much flat. hong kong hasjust got its head above water. interestingly, hong kong stock exchange making headlines all the wrong reasons today stop the hong kong stock exchange reported a 30% decline in profits amid the china slowdown, which is interesting, actually, hong kong has had such a tough time of late stop the next board in the united states, declines there as well. the nasdaq down 0.5%, the s&p 500 also down just slightly. a lot of news coming out of asia today, actually, which i will mention at this point. alibaba is launching sweeping price cuts to its cloud unit as growth slows down there, which is really interesting. alibaba's leao division launching price cuts as the group attempts to restore faltering growth in a key business unit. —— cloud

division. and baidu share sliding, this is the chinese tech giants. some 7% in hong kong, on reports of weaker than forecast profits. if we give you a sense of the picture we are getting from asia today, the hong kong stock exchange, profits down significantly, baidu, it's saying it will have weaker than expected profits going forward, and alibaba slashing prices in order to see growth. it's giving you a picture of the china economy, mainland china, which is struggling currently in terms of growth. the impact that has on hong kong, of course, is owned stock exchange, but also a lot of companies that are based out there. we have mentioned volkswagen, which is interesting, also the top story today about bitcoin, almost at an all—time high, something

they wanted to mention there with chris is gemini, crypto exchange founded by the whing lewis twins, it has agreed to return at least $1.1 billion to customers who invested in the flagship crypto lending product, but they were unable to withdraw their funds during the crash, the cryptocrash of 2022, so they have had to give back $1.1 billion in compensation for that, that was a deal struck yesterday, another negative headline surrounding crypto. that is the latest business use, apologies again we could not talk to alia qamar. that is a shame. have a good day. i will see you soon. hello there. sunshine was a scarce commodity across the uk on wednesday, but we had most of it in eastern scotland withjust overfour hours of sunshine in edinburgh. however, the rest of us, rather cloudy, grey and at times wet, but it was mild with it. however, as the rain continues to push south and east, the wind direction is changing.

we're going to see a return to some colder air across oui’ shores. so, thursday will start off mild, but wet across southeast england and east anglia. quite a lot of cloud generally across england and wales, with the best of any brighter skies into northern ireland, scotland. northwest scotland seeing a real rash of showers, accompanied by gale—force gusts of winds through the day. it will start to turn colder generally across scotland, 6—9 degrees, maybe double digits for a time before that front clears through in the southeast. but as we move out of thursday into friday, we see this next frontal system moving in, and as temperatures fall away through the night, bumping into that colder air which is sitting in place across the country, yes, we could see a return to some wintriness. it's going to be across higher ground. generally temperatures will be sitting around freezing first thing on friday morning, perhaps below in eastern scotland. but there's going to be a risk of some snow above 200 metres in northern ireland, scottish borders, across the pennines, and into north wales. we could see a few centimetres accumulating, so that might cause some minor disruption, but it will be rain elsewhere. so you can see, circulating around that low pressure is that frontal system, and it will bring some sunny spells and scattered showers, a mixture of rain, sleet and snow at times across wales and southwest england, perhaps drier into the far north of scotland.

but temperatures a little bit down — 6—9 degrees. don't forget, friday is the first day of march, so these values just below par for this time of year. then, as we move into the start of the weekend, we maintain the sunny spells and scattered showers and the wind direction still coming from the north, so it will feel quite cold, and we could still have a wintry flavour with any elevation. so again, 6—9 degrees the expected high. but as we move out of saturday into sunday, we see another frontal system bringing a spell of more organised rain and for a time, again, on the leading edge, there could be some wintriness, but it will be rain eventually as that front moves through. so the weekend will stay pretty unsettled for most of us. take care.

good morning, welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. 0ur headlines today. mps call on the government to come up with a plan on assisted dying if the isle of man and jersey change their laws.

parents in england will face bigger fines if their children miss school without permission. did you kill emma? no, i never. the lies of a killer. iain packer is finally convicted of the murder of emma caldwell. herfamily demand a public inquiry into why it took 19—years to bring him tojustice. cost of living pressures mean more people are pulling money out of their pensions early. but doing that can come at a cost. i'll have the details. dann's the man, as liverpool keep their quadruple dream alive. teenagerjayden danns helps liverpool sweep past southampton to set up an fa cup quarter—final with manchester united. good morning. for england and wales today, fairly cloudy with rain in the south and east. for scotland and northern ireland, sunshine and showers with gales in the north west and all of us will feel colder than yesterday.